How Can Writers Make Money in Second Life? Let Me Count the Ways…

I get asked this question a lot: Can a writer actually make any money in Second Life?

If I’m busy or have had a tough day, I may respond with another question: “Can a writer make any money in any life?”

Cynicism toward the publishing industry aside, usually I answer, “Yes, of course they can,” and give some examples of how they do.

Literary fiction author Michelle Richmond made sales from an appearance in SL.

This is an important concern for professional writers – especially full-time writers. For virtual worlds such as Second Life to become serious players in the writing and publishing industry, they have to be more than just a place to hang out.

Of course, as I’ve blogged about for nearly a year and a half, there are endless ways in which SL benefit writers — just skim through this blog’s archives to get a glimpse of the free opportunities, events, and places in SL where writers can learn and develop their skills and get to know other writers. And of course, there are the many unique ways writers use virtual tools to support their writing.

The conference is titled, “Shall We Write for Free or Shall We Write for Pay? Writers Face the Digital Age,” and one of the sessions offered attendees is this one:

Introduction to Virtual Worlds: You’ve probably heard about virtual worlds like Second Life – online systems which allow millions of people to create online versions of themselves (called “avatars”) and pursue all kinds of creative and mundane activities in a completely human-created environment with global reach. But did you know that writers are making money in virtual worlds? This workshop will provide a general introduction to Second Life via live demonstration of the system – followed by an online presentation on writing in virtual worlds.

I wish I lived near Boston so I could attend the conference. Or better yet, I wish the conference were also being held in Second Life, as is happening with greater frequency. So I don’t know what the presenters — Persia Bravin, the avatar of a noted UK-based journalist for major media outlets and a key contributor to the Second Life Enquirer news organization, and Gary Zabel, UMass philosophy professor and SL innovator – will say.

Melissa Mayhue runs a literary salon in SL with links to online sellers of her own books, and also brings other published authors in for informal chats.

But if I could attend, I’d share the ways that I and many other writers have found to earn income in SL from our writing:

If you go to the Digital Media Conference in Boston, I’d love to hear about it afterward. And if you know if additional ways writers are working for money in SL or other virtual worlds, please share them in a comment to this post!

Great post, Joan! I can attest to the fact that writers can, indeed, make money in SL. Doing live readings offers a wonderful opportunity for writers to not only promote their works, but get some great feedback from readers. You can either charge an up-front fee or simply ask for monetary tips from your audience…both have worked for me in the past.

A note about setting out a shop of your own where people can pick up excerpts and purchasing info: “if you build it they will come” only works for baseball fields. Be at the shop at specified times and you’ll be amazed at who stops in!

And fill out your profile! So many great conversations have begun with people saying to me, “I was looking at your profile. Are you REALLY an erotic romance author?” LOL

Diana, thanks so much for your comment. Those are excellent tips for writers looking to enhance their income in Second Life!

You were one of the writers I had in mind when I wrote this post. I’ve long been impressed by how you use SL’s functions to get your writing out. I also love the workshops you teach! I’ve been thinking about profiling you as an excellent example of good writers making the most of SL.

I think you are very much right regarding the writing for payment…I have seen one thing among people closely..greed…If you do something for free for one person, he will come again and again to you untill you ask him for some kind of help, specially money…once you ask him for anything, and he will vanish like thin air…At first I also didn’t mind designing website for free for relatives or friends, but slowly and slowly I came to know that I am just getting into bad thing…:)

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Joan Kremer is a professional business/ nonfiction writer, novelist, short story writer, editor of an online literary journal, and most recently co-owner of the Story Mountain Center for Writers in Second Life® (where I go by the avatar name Alas Zerbino, whose picture appears above).

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